Wind power installation comprising at least two components and a data network

ABSTRACT

Wind power installation for generating electrical energy with at least two components which respectively have sensors and actuators and comprise a control unit, each of the control units being connected to a data network and exchanging with the control units of the other components, signals for the operating conditions of the components, detected sensor values and/or control signals for the other components.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

Not Applicable

STATEMENT REGARDING FEDERALLY SPONSORED RESEARCH

Not Applicable

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates to a wind power installation forgenerating electrical energy, with at least two components whichrespectively have sensors and actuators and comprise a control unit. Atpresent, known wind power installations have a central automationsystem. This system has a central control system which controls the windpower installation via special hardware components, such as for exampleSPS and bus connections. In this connection, specific functions andspecially adapted software are used which make use of amanufacturer-specific functional scope. It is therefore not possible toreplace individual pieces of equipment easily in the wind powerinstallation. An alteration to one component necessitates complexalterations to the control system.

The object of the invention is to provide a wind power installation, inthe control system of which no, or only small, adaptations are requiredwhen replacing individual parts of the wind power installation.

BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

Advantageous embodiments form the subject of the sub-claims.

The wind power installation according to the invention consists of atleast two components which respectively have sensors and actuators. Eachof the control units is connected to a data network for the exchange ofdata and signals. Each component exchanges with the other components,signals for the operating conditions of the component, detected sensorvalues and/or control signals for the other components via the controlunit associated with said component.

In the wind power installation according to the invention, a centralcontrol system is dispensed with. The control system is based on theindividual components. This approach of a component-based control systemof the wind power installation is based on the recognition that thesignal exchange between the components is sufficient for controlling awind power installation and does not require a central control systembut can be modularised without loss of speed and accuracy. With theconstruction of the wind power installation according to the invention,individually occurring operating conditions of the components arecontrolled according to specific parameters for the components. Thecommunication of the operating conditions between the components,however, is carried out irrespective of specific parameters. Aconsequence of this is that components from different manufacturers canbe interchanged, without alterations being required to the controlroutines of the other components.

In a preferred embodiment each component is exclusively controlled bythe control unit associated therewith. In this embodiment, a controlsystem is avoided where a control unit directly controls a component notassociated therewith.

A drive train unit and an electrical unit are preferably provided ascomponents of the wind power installation. Each of these units has anindividual control system which exchanges data with the other controlsystem. In this connection, measured values in the components cannaturally also be exchanged with one another.

It has been shown that the drive train unit can be split into furtherindependent units. The drive train unit comprises a braking unit, ashaft unit, a generator unit or combinations of these units. Inaddition, the drive train can be provided with a gear box.

The electrical unit is expediently split into one or more independentunits. In this connection, a grid connection unit, a converter unit, atransformer unit or a combination of these units prove to be expedientas units.

In wind power installations, whether offshore or on land, it isexpedient to provide additionally a tower unit. The tower unit consistsof a heating unit, a lifting unit, an access control unit orcombinations of these units.

In order to ensure the communication between the units, it has proven tobe expedient to use an ether network or a fieldbus network.

The wind power installation according to the invention will be describedhereinafter in more detail with reference to a sketch.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING

FIG. 1 shows the diagrammatic construction of a wind power installation.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

While this invention may be embodied in many different forms, there aredescribed in detail herein a specific preferred embodiment of theinvention. This description is an exemplification of the principles ofthe invention and is not intended to limit the invention to theparticular embodiment illustrated.

The rotor blades 10 shown have a pitch control 12 for adjusting therotor blade angle. The rotor shaft 14 terminates in a gear box 16. Theoutput shaft of the gear box 16 is additionally provided with a brakingsystem 18 and terminates in a generator 20. The electrical energygenerated by the generator 20 is adapted in a converter 22 to the gridrequirements and fed via the connector 24 into the grid system 26. Acooling system 28 and an azimuthal drive 31 are additionally provided inthe nacelle.

Further components, for example for the monitoring and diagnosis of theoperation, can be provided in the nacelle.

All components are connected to an ether network 32, via which data andsignals can be received and transmitted for other components.

In the wind power installation according to the invention, the necessarycontrol system is present on the main components to automate the entiresystem. In this connection, the advantage is that the interfaces withall component suppliers are clearly defined and the componentscommunicate with one another via the defined interfaces. This results inthe components being able to be replaced quickly and inexpensivelyirrespective of individual suppliers. Moreover, it is advantageous thatsignals can be incorporated therewith to monitor the components.

The above disclosure is intended to be illustrative and not exhaustive.This description will suggest many variations and alternatives to one ofordinary skill in this art. All these alternatives and variations areintended to be included within the scope of the claims where the term“comprising” means “including, but not limited to”. Those familiar withthe art may recognize other equivalents to the specific embodimentsdescribed herein which equivalents are also intended to be encompassedby the claims.

Further, the particular features presented in the dependent claims canbe combined with each other in other manners within the scope of theinvention such that the invention should be recognized as alsospecifically directed to other embodiments having any other possiblecombination of the features of the dependent claims. For instance, forpurposes of claim publication, any dependent claim which follows shouldbe taken as alternatively written in a multiple dependent form from allprior claims which possess all antecedents referenced in such dependentclaim if such multiple dependent format is an accepted format within thejurisdiction (e.g. each claim depending directly from claim 1 should bealternatively taken as depending from all previous claims). Injurisdictions where multiple dependent claim formats are restricted, thefollowing dependent claims should each be also taken as alternativelywritten in each singly dependent claim format which creates a dependencyfrom a prior antecedent-possessing claim other than the specific claimlisted in such dependent claim below.

This completes the description of the preferred and alternateembodiments of the invention. Those skilled in the art may recognizeother equivalents to the specific embodiment described herein whichequivalents are intended to be encompassed by the claims attachedhereto.

1. Wind power installation for generating electrical energy with atleast two components, each of the at least two components respectivelyhave sensors and/or actuators and comprise a control unit, each of thecontrol units being connected to a data network and the data networkbeing used for interconnecting the at least two control units and forexchanging signals for the operating conditions of the components,detected sensor values and/or control signals for the other components,with the control units of the other components.
 2. Wind powerinstallation according to claim 1, characterised in that each controlunit of a component exclusively controls said component.
 3. Wind powerinstallation according to claim 2, characterised in that a drive trainunit (12, 16, 18) and an electrical unit (20, 22, 24) are provided ascomponents.
 4. Wind power installation according to claim 3,characterised in that the drive train unit comprises one or more of thefollowing units as independent units, braking unit (18), shaft unit(14), generator unit (20).
 5. Wind power installation according to claim4, characterised in that the drive train additionally comprises a gearbox (16).
 6. Wind power installation according to claim 3, characterisedin that the electrical unit comprises one or more of the following unitsas independent units: grid connection unit (24), converter unit (22),transformer unit.
 7. Wind power installation according to claim 1,characterised in that a tower unit is provided as an additionalcomponent.
 8. Wind power installation according to claim 7,characterised in that the tower unit has one or more of the followingunits as components as heating device, lifting device and access controldevice.
 9. Wind power installation according to claim 1, characterisedin that an ether network (30) is provided as a data network.
 10. Windpower installation according to claim 1, characterised in that afieldbus network is provided as a data network.
 11. Wind powerinstallation for generating electrical energy with at least two controlunits, each of the at least two control units comprising a component andcontrolling at least one device, the at least one device selected fromat least one member of the group consisting of sensors, actuators andany combination thereof, each of the at least two control units beingconnected to a data network, each of the at least two control unitsusing the data network to exchange data with one another.
 12. The windpower installation of claim 11, the data being at least one of detectedsensor values, control signals for the other control units, signals forthe operating conditions of the control units and any combinationthereof.
 13. The wind power installation of claim 11, the component isselected from the group consisting of pitch control, rotor shaft, gearbox, generator, cooling system, azimuthal drive, drive train unit, anelectrical unit, a braking unit, a shaft unit, a generator unit, a gridconnection unit, a converter unit, a transformer unit, a tower unit, aheating unit, a lifting unit, and an access control unit.
 14. Wind powerinstallation for generating electrical energy with at least twocomponents each of the at least two components respectively have sensorsand/or actuators and comprise a control unit, each control unit of acomponent exclusively controlling the component, each of the controlunits being connected to a data network and the data network being usedfor interconnecting the at least two control units and for exchangingsignals for the operating conditions of the components, detected sensorvalues and/or control signals for the other components, with the controlunits of the other components.